


During the Invasion

by unwillingadventurer



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26477059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwillingadventurer/pseuds/unwillingadventurer
Summary: What was happening to Ian and Barbara during New Who moments?
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the events of the Sycorax invasion.

Ian sat comfortably on the armchair dressed in his pyjamas, dressing gown, and slippers as Barbara handed him his Christmas present and kissed him on the cheek. Her eyes were full of excitement as she waited for him to tear apart the wrapping paper.

He was halfway through unwrapping the glittery paper when he dropped the parcel onto his lap and froze still in his seat, staring ahead over Barbara’s shoulder.

“Ian?” Barbara quickly looked behind her to see what he was focused on but there was nothing there but the Christmas tree and the television set. Through the screen of the television she could see Ian’s reflection, upright, staring but emotionless. She turned back to face him and waved her hand in front of his eyes. “Ian?”

It was at that moment that he stood bolt-upright, knocking the unwrapped gift box onto the floor.

“Ian!” Barbara was shocked at the sudden movement and watched as her husband of nearly forty years walked past her and headed for the front door.

Barbara followed him. “Darling, where are you going, it’s cold out there?”

There was a brief moment when she thought he was playing a joke but the dead eyes told her differently. The usual blue sparkle of wonder had gone and even Ian’s teasing never stretched to frightening her.

She tried to stop him opening the door but his arms seemed to have strength far beyond what she was used to and he pushed past her as though she wasn’t there.

“Ian, wait!”

She followed him outside into the cold air and shivered. She was also dressed in her dressing gown and had only a nightdress underneath for warmth. Her red slippers matched her husband’s ones and she normally wouldn’t want anyone to witness her outside wearing so little, but she had no choice. The panic took over her as she struggled to understand where Ian was going and thoughts of alien invasions ran through her mind. She’d seen this sort of behaviour before, that zombie-like walk and vacant stare. She’d seen Ian succumb to mind control on Marinus and nearly been killed at his hand under that hypnotic state.

She tried not to worry about the ‘what’, and instead worried about where he was going. It was at that moment she saw her neighbour Gary following his wife and daughter along the pavement outside their properties. He was saying their names over and over, pleading with them to stop, but like Ian, they too were unable to reply.

“Barbara, can you get them to stop, they just keep going! I just don’t understand. I thought Eloise was playing a game at first but they won’t shake.”

Barbara touched his arm gently. “I’m afraid Ian’s the same and look, they’re all going the same way.” She pointed to the main street to where dozens upon dozens of marching people were making their way towards a high-rise apartment building.

“They seem to be being called somehow,” she said, trying to keep pace with Ian. “We’ll just have to follow.”

She followed every step, right beside her husband as he climbed the many stairs inside the building towards the very top. As they neared the roof she felt her heartbeat quicken. Why was he heading towards the edge? She felt sick, helpless- unable to think of what to do as people swarmed around her- each heading toward the terrifying drop at the side of the building.

“They’re all gonna jump!” Gary cried with terror.

Barbara tugged at Ian’s arm to pull him away as he stood directly on the edge. For a horrifying moment she thought he was about to leap but then he just stopped still, vacant and eerily calm, staring ahead and not down at the ground beneath.

“Ian? Can you hear me in there? It’s me. It’s your wife, Barbara. Now, I don’t want you to be afraid.” She had no idea if he could actually hear her and she wondered if it was more a reassurance for herself than anything. “You have to ignore whatever’s calling you and hear my voice, just mine. Please Ian, hear me.”

Ian remained motionless and staring ahead along with all the other people lined up along the edge of the building, their frantic families and friends behind them trying anything to bring them safely away.

Barbara knew he couldn’t hear her, knew they were locked in a trance. She decided to stand right beside him. That was all she could do. She took his hand carefully and stroked his fingers and she waited. Maybe the Doctor would know what to do- maybe someone else would find a way. She needed to focus on Ian now.

…

It felt like eternity as she waited beside him. While others tried to grab their loved ones away from the edge, Barbara just held Ian’s hand and spoke to him. She talked of their wedding, their children, their grandchildren, their jobs at the university. If those were his last moments she wanted him to at least remember that. She choked back a sob, trying not to think that it really was his last moments and that even if he didn’t jump that he’d never wake from the trance, forever staring ahead and never looking at her.

It was with a sudden shock and some sort of electric pulse that Ian’s head turned towards her, his confused eyes gazing at her. “Barbara, what are we doing up here?”

He took a moment to look down and he let out a yelp, realising how close he was to the huge drop. He pulled Barbara away instinctively.

“Oh Ian, you’re back with me.” She held onto him tightly and started to lead him gently away from the roof, watching as the other controlled people also came around and were led away to safety by their own families.

When they reached the street below, Ian was flummoxed and his legs were shaking. “What happened to me? My legs are killing me.”

“Oh Ian what do you remember?”

Ian rubbed his head, feeling almost like he was suffering from a hangover. “I was opening your gift and I feel like I dozed off. Didn’t miss Christmas dinner did I?”

Barbara laughed, cuddling him tightly and resting his head on her shoulder. She stroked his white hair and smelt the Christmas shampoo he used, mixed with an odour of the smoky air around them. “No darling, we can go home and finish the rest of our Christmas.”

“I feel a bit nippy.” He glanced down at himself as if realising for the first time that he was wearing pyjamas. “Fancy taking a Christmas day stroll in my jim-jams! What are we doing out here, Barbara? And why were all those people with us?”

“Oh I think we should get home first before I explain what happened.” She grabbed his hand.

“Barbara, you’re in a nightie!” His eyes widened at the sight of his wife’s bare legs in December. “Mind you, you’ve got nice pins.”

She slapped him playfully on the arm. “Now, now, you’re in shock still.”

Ian stopped her for a minute and looked into her eyes. “Wait a minute, Barbara, before we go back I just want to say thank you.”

“For what?”

“What ever happened back there, whatever strange alien thing was taking over me…thank you for looking after me.”

She felt his hand grip hers tightly.

“Oh Ian, I’d always look after you, I love you.”

He smiled and whispered ‘I love you’ into her ear.

He shivered as the wind picked up around them. “You know I think next Christmas a woolly jumper might do the trick.”

Barbara cuddled up next to him. “Come on you, home time.”


	2. On The Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ian and Barbara are caught up in the events of Smith and Jones.

“You comfortable enough there, Barbara?” Ian said as he stood next to his wife’s hospital bed, fluffing her pillows with enthusiasm.

“Ian, I’m perfectly fine.”

“I know but fussing helps me feel less stressed.”

He finished his job and then made his way to the window, glancing out at the city he saw frequently. It was light and sunny outside, busy, dirty, and full of life and energy. Their hospital room in comparison was clean and calm and still. For several moments, Ian and Barbara discussed the city, Ian telling her all about the people he could see out of the window.

“Hmm, that’s strange.”

“What is?” asked Barbara.

“Forecast said lovely sunshine today and it was just moments ago, but suddenly it’s thick grey cloud and it’s raining.”

“Ian, our weather has never been predictable. Whenever I hang out the washing on a glorious day, I’m always running out there every five minutes bringing it back in.”

Ian was silent for a moment, staring at the glass of the window, his eyes unable to look away. 

“Ian?”

“Barbara, I’m not sure if I’m going crazy but the rain…appears…to be going upwards.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“No, no, I’m serious. I wouldn’t normally get you out of bed when you’re fragile, but come and look at this.”

“Ian, if this is one of your jokes,” she replied but she was already climbing out of bed, placing on her dressing-gown.

“It isn’t.” He put his hand through his white hair and stared dumb-founded. “How can this be? The rain is going up.”

Joining him by the window, Barbara too stared in bewilderment as more gloomy rainclouds gathered overhead and the rain continued to travel in the wrong direction. On the window panes, rain trickled upwards.

“What’s causing it?” she asked.

“I’ve no idea, but it’s fascinating. Once upon a time, I’d have said it was impossible but I don’t care to use that word so much anymore.”

“Do you think it’s…alien?” 

There was curiosity in her voice and Ian could see the spark of both fear and excitement in her eyes. It’d been so long since anything like this had happened to them. But they were no longer young, no longer as fit and healthy as they once were. Barbara had been ill, on the mend thankfully, but she was still too weak to run around after aliens. 

At that moment there was a blinding light, causing them to cover their eyes. This was followed by a mighty rumble and the room shaking. They fell to their knees, arms reaching out for each other, cradling each other, until at last the hospital room was once again silent and still.

“Felt like an earthquake,” Barbara said, “but we never have earthquakes like that in England.”

“What on earth?” Ian said, slowly rising to his feet, pulling his wife up with him, until they were facing the window once more. The sky was now as black as night and the view outside was no longer of that busy thriving metropolis but instead a calm, quiet, white rocky surface. There were no people. There was no light. It was vast nothingness. “Ok, not on Earth.” He gulped.

They looked to the distance and saw the Earth there, far away, blue and green and misty, looking beautiful but out of reach. 

Barbara pointed. “Ian, we’re on the moon! Not just us but the whole hospital. We’re on the moon!”

Ian rubbed his eyes. “Phew, it’s not just me, thought I was dreaming and needed some excitement in my life.”

“It must be alien,” Barbara reasoned. She grabbed Ian’s hand. “What do we do? Find out who’s behind it?”

“Steady on, Barbara, you’re in no fit state to be getting involved.”

“But we are involved, Ian, and maybe we can help.”

Ian ran his hands through his white hair again. “How are we even breathing? The windows aren’t even air tight, what’s protecting us?”

“A forcefield like the one that Arbitan used on Marinus?” Barbara said.

“You may be right, Barbara. But if that’s true then we may be able to breathe outside. Shall we go and have a look?”

“It sounds dangerous but we’ve faced danger many times before and why not once more?”

They clutched hands and slowly exited the door leading to a small balcony and realised that, yes, they were still breathing and full of life. 

“It’s wonderful,” Barbara said. “We’re on the moon and we’re breathing. We’re looking at our own planet. Oh, I’ve missed it way up here.”

He smiled at her. “Me too.”

“Of course, I’ll change my mind if we’re stuck here forever.”

“Yeah and I’m not convinced this forcefield of whatever it is will keep us safe. The air inside has got to run out eventually. Question is, why take this hospital to the moon? You hear of alien abductions but not whole buildings.”

“Hear of alien abductions? Oh Ian, your memory.” She found herself laughing at the memory of stumbling onto the TARDIS and the Doctor kidnapping them.

“All I know is we need to find out why we’re here before that air runs out.”

“Then we better get started.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden loud arrival of a spaceship that landed on the surface. They ran back inside, closing the door behind them and pressing their noses to the window to watch the ground floor where a line of large black helmeted figures marched toward the hospital entrance with relentless determination.

Barbara suddenly felt sick to the stomach, a combination of fear and medication.

“You alright, Barbara?”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry, I’ll be alright. Do you think we should go down and see them or wait until they find us?”

“Let’s go to the corridor and see what everyone else is doing. Where are all the doctors and nurses?”

They cautiously made their way out of the room and down the corridor. There were people running around, some panicked, some curious, others lost and roaming. In the wards, there were people still in their beds, staring at the window, horrified and frightened. Ian and Barbara instinctively went to some of the patients, attempting to reassure but unable to offer any explanation.

“We’ll find out what’s going on,” Ian told them. “Don’t you worry.”

“What are those things?” one man said who was in a bed by the window. 

“Not sure but if they come here, just do what they tell you,” Ian said. “No heroics.”

Barbara squeezed the hand of an elderly lady and then exited the room. “We need a look at those aliens. Perhaps we’ve met them.”

“I can hear commotion downstairs,” he said as they both made their way to the lift and journeyed down the two flights to the reception area. 

As they came out of the lift, there was chaos everywhere— people cowering behind chairs and some standing with giant creatures towering over them. 

“They look like giant rhinos,” Barbara said.

“What are they doing?”

They watched as one of the space rhinos scanned a member of staff with a handheld device and then drew on his hand with some kind of marker pen.

Barbara’s heart sank as she saw one of the rhinoceros marching towards them. 

“You will be catalogued.” The voice was deep and menacing and its breath was overpowering.

She resisted the urge to defy him, refusing to be catalogued and stamped like a possession and not a person but she knew it was pointless to argue when she knew little fact.

The alien held the device to her face and a light emanated from within it. “Human.” He then grabbed her hand and drew on it a big black cross. He then repeated the process for Ian.

“They’re trying to find someone, Ian,” Barbara reasoned. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Rhino,” Ian said politely. “May I ask who it is you’re looking for? Perhaps we can help.”

“You will not be required. Judoon will continue looking for the fugitive.”

He shoved Ian aside and joined his ranks as they made their way up the stairs to all levels of the hospital, no doubt to continue their mission with as little fuss as possible.

“So, they’re called Judoon,” Barbara said. “Wonder if the Doctor’s ever come across them?”

At that moment a tall man in a blue suit and a young woman in a white coat ran past, almost colliding with them.

“Watch out!” Ian said, “My wife’s just had surgery!”

The young people ignored him, running off into the distance. 

“Rude,” Ian said.

“You know the young, Ian, always in a tearing hurry.”

Suddenly Barbara sat down on one of the chairs, her legs feeling weak.

“Are you alright, Barbara?”

“Is it me or does the air seem a bit thinner?”

Ian rubbed his forehead. “I think you’re right. I’m feeling so tired. What should we do? I could go upstairs, see what’s going on and you could stay here and rest.”

“There’s nothing more we can do, Ian. We have no reason to believe that the creatures won’t complete their task. They seem like some sort of police force after a fugitive. And if they catch that person then maybe they’ll send us back.”

“Yes, but in time? And why are they so aggressive?”

…

Feeling weaker and weaker in the diminishing air, Ian and Barbara managed to make their way back to Barbara’s room, helping to reassure a few people on the way. They sat together on the bed, taking heavy breaths and feeling light-headed and exhausted.

“They’re leaving, Barbara,” Ian cried, watching as the platoon of Judoon on the moon marched back to their ship. “We…must…be…saved. Just hold on Barbara.”

But she was barely conscious, now lying back on the bed, her eyelids fluttering. He placed his arms around her, unable to stand up or even turn. Barbara’s hand squeezed his and she looked at him briefly.

“Ian?” she whispered. “We can make it, can’t we? We always made it before.”

“We’ll make it, Barbara. You can rely on me.”

“I want to go home,” she said, struggling to say the words but feeling them so deeply.

“Send us back, Rhinos, please,” Ian mouthed, closing his eyes finally.

Then there was a sudden rumble and a flash of lightning and the sound of heavy rain, rain that splattered against the windows.

And then it was silent. The rain had stopped. There was light outside— the sky now blue and graced with fluffy white clouds. There were people crowded outside the hospital, cameras snapping away or filming the scene. There was a general confusion over what had happened.

The Chestertons opened their eyes, took a few deep breaths and looked around.

“We made it, Barbara, the good old year two-thousand-and-seven!”

“It’s marvellous, Ian. We’re home, back to things we recognise and trust.”

He laughed. “Still, was a bit of an adventure, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Ian helped Barbara out of bed and they glanced out of the window once more. 

“Always nice to be down to earth, eh Barbara?”

“Yes, Ian, very nice indeed. I wonder if John and the grandchildren will believe us?”

“Haven’t the foggiest. But one thing I do know, Barbara. Next time you’re ill, let’s go private!”

They both laughed and she rested her head on his shoulder, staring at the beautiful world that was their home.


	3. Auton Attack at the Arcade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian and Barbara's trip to the shops is less than relaxing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the events of the episode 'Rose.'

Carrying several bags in one hand and her walking stick in the other, Barbara Chesterton met up with her husband Ian outside the tie emporium. 

“Well, find anything suitable?” she asked. “You do go through your ties.”

He held up a small bag. “I got a three striped smart number for classy events and a fun one for whimsical days.”

“What does it look like?”

He pulled out the tie from the bag to reveal a chilli pepper design with green writing which read ‘Hot stuff’ at the bottom.

She placed her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles. “Well that’s a scientific theory that might need some further study before coming to any conclusions.”

He laughed, shaking his head and placing the tie back in the bag. He kissed her on the cheek. “I know that you think I’m the sexiest man alive…at least the sexiest over seventy. And what about you?” He looked at her bags. “I can see you’ve been buying the whole of Queen’s Arcade.”

“It’s things for the grandchildren and some sewing supplies…oh and I grabbed a pair of oven gloves as they’d gone all crusty.”

“And we can’t have that. Where to next gaffer? Do you think there’s any cafes open at this time of night, I’m parched?”

“I just want to get home. I’ve got blisters and my legs aching. I just want to put the kettle on and have a nice bath.”

“I’d advise against putting the kettle on in the bath.” He chuckled.

“Ian, I’m serious. It’s been an awfully long day. I’m getting too old for lectures.”

“Nonsense, your mind’s as sharp as a knife. It’s the evening shopping that’s taken it out of you.”

“It was a necessity. But now it’s done, I just want an ordinary evening with no noise and chaos, just us and the tea and our dogs who are missing us.”

Noticing Barbara was carrying a number of heavy bags, Ian took half of them. “Fine. Ready for the off?”

Barbara nodded so Ian took a step onto the escalator, followed by Barbara where they descended onto the ground floor of the department store. The sound of people talking could be heard but all in all it was pleasant and quiet. Stepping off the metal steps, they neared a group of shoppers stood looking into a shop window at one of the trendy fashion stores.

“Hello, that’s funny?” Ian said. “What is it, big sale? Why are you all looking at so intently?”

A woman in her twenties turned to him. “Isn’t that mannequin moving?”

Putting on her glasses, Barbara watched carefully and noticed that true enough the dummy’s fingers twitched ever so slightly. “Ian, it does look like it’s moving!”

“Must be a fault somewhere, or it’s fitted with something for show.”

“That one moved too!” A child shouted as the head of a child dummy looked right at them, its head turning unnaturally. 

Barbara felt a series of shivers run down her spine as she gazed into the empty eyes of the plastic thing. It had to be a spectacle, a show put on by the store, a publicity stunt— it had to be! But then why did she feel so strange as if something was about to kick off? She grabbed Ian’s hand and then backed away slowly.

“I’ve got a bad feeling as if we’ve got caught up in something,” she said with fear in her voice.

“I know what you mean. It’s giving me the willies too. Let’s move away.”

It was as the crowd dispersed that one of the mannequins reached forward with its fist and smashed the pane of glass in front where it cracked, fractured and shattered, sending fragments all over the floor. The plastic fist punched again, this time to the sound of frantic screams until at last it emerged through the now empty space, followed by the child mannequin and then a whole army of plastic figures. They were slowly coming alive! They were moving, one step, two steps, in awkward and rigid movement. Slowly they came but nonetheless terrifying as their plastic arms reached out towards the crowd.

“What’s happening?” Ian cried.

One of the bigger mannequins raised its plastic hand and spread its fingers so that there was a gap in the middle. From that gap there appeared to be some kind of weapon sitting inside. Suddenly there was a shot. Someone went down. Everyone screamed and then everyone ran. Ian grabbed Barbara’s hand but unlike the young people around them they could only move at a slower pace, faster than the dummies but not as fast as they once could when they travelled with the Doctor. By the time they reached the exit doors, the plastic dummies were surrounding them and they had no way of escape. 

Barbara pulled Ian behind some tall pillars that lined the food court. 

“A terrorist attack!” Someone shouted as they ran past.

Ian and Barbara looked at each other grimly. “Or aliens,” Barbara said.

They crouched down behind the pillar and tried to remain calm as they sound of shots rang out around them. They then jumped as they heard a bang from outside and saw flames in the distance. The sound was deafening.

“Barbara does this remind you of something?”

“Yes, Ian, the war. Was that a bomb?”

He was about to reply when he clocked a plastic mannequin coming towards them, walking slowly but with determination— if a dummy could have determination! He had no clue what those things were, whether they were aliens reawakened or controlled by a greater force somewhere up in the sky— whatever it was, it was here for them. The two of them huddled together, remained still and closed their eyes but when Ian opened his eyelids momentarily, he suddenly saw the face of the dummy peering around the pillar at them where its extended weaponed arm was aimed at their faces. Ian attempted to shield Barbara but she struggled and they ended up facing it together, side by side.

“We face this as one, Ian.”

“So it is aliens that get us in the end?”

They cradled each other and waited. Their bodies were shaking with terror.

“I love you Barbara.”

“I love you too, Ian.”

“I really wish my last hours hadn’t been spent shopping. They’re going to find me dead with a 'hot stuff' tie in my bags.”

“Oh Ian.” Barbara felt the tears in her eyes and a lump forming in her throat. She hadn’t said goodbye to so many people. She hadn’t kissed her son or grandchildren. She hadn’t walked the dogs that evening. She hadn't done anything important.

And then she waited, closed her eyes and waited. Nothing happened. And when she opened them, the dummy was contorting, twitching, jaggedly moving its body toward the ground and then it collapsed into a heap and lay motionless like a body of a human but with empty eyes.

Ian pulled Barbara to her feet and held her tightly, burying his face in her apple scented hair. “Barbara, we made it, we made it!”

“We should see if we can help anyone. There’s bound to be injured.”

“And dead.” Ian glanced over to where a body lay outside a shop doorway. “Poor soul. You think you get used to death but you never do. Life isn't fair.”

“No, it’s not. Come on, Ian, let’s do what we can do, helping people.”

As they walked to assist where they could, they heard the sound of multiple sirens outside. 

“Let’s make sure to phone John after this,” he said. “And Barbara?”

“Yes?”

“Next time you suggest evening shopping, let’s do it online instead!”


End file.
